1.0 Reminiscing

[Felis]

I can't believe you'd be saying that if you actually spent time in Coerthas in 1.0. The scale between the two is an order of magnitude different.Cut that first map into four pieces. Any one of pieces is as large or larger than the Coerthas we have now.

And just to you don't think I'm full of it, take a look at this video. Specifically, look at the map at 0:00 and then at 7:35. While a circuitous path is taken, it's still enough to give you a feel for the scale of the area.

It seem that you don't have tried to ride the route through central highlands yourself in ARR to compare the time. It takes just as long as in the video (i tested it just now). And at 7:35 it is not in central highlands. The person left the central highlands at 4:35. He enter the "canyon that load the next zone while you ride through it" and reach the next zone at 5:30